1975 Chevrolet Other Chevrolet - 75_Laguna

Hi, I'm prolly older than your dad and there's prolly a lot more stories they could tell. My guess if the engine isn't blown they put it there or actually hid it there cause the cops were looking  for it.There was a guy in NJ who had his car painted like 7 times as the story went. His car was blue and he'd drag  race and stuff and the cops would chase and he'd ditch 'em. They are looking for a blue GTO. Next weekend it was red. Opps, he got in trouble and they were looking  for a red goat. Back on the street later and its now yellow. Maybe an urban legend but I doubt it.
The cops really only had radio back then. No helicopters, no FLIR, no tazers, no pepper spray, no fancy computers in their cars nothing  like the toys they make us all miserable with now. They also had something back then that they have lost and that is genuine respect in a community. They stopped being  regular people and became revenue agents to fleece the drivers with the stupid 55 mph national speed limit in 1974. That got them into a mindset of 'we against them' and they closed themselves off from the people around them except the ones they work with. They only developed that closed set worse over the years till what they are now. If they remade the Andy Griffith Show with Sheriff Andy and Deputy Fife acting  like today's cops there wouldn't be anything funny about it at all.
Sorry, got on my soapbox. Great looking car, I hope you'll make it look stock on the outside and have like a small block with dual quads under the hood. And instead of Flowmasters put a driver controlled vacuum exhaust set of mufflers on it. That's what I would do. Check this website out. http://waldronexhaust.com/drivercontrolledexhaust.htm